Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/10-incredible-women-who-were-erased-from-history-books/
History has a nasty habit of forgetting. While we celebrate the great men of science, countless brilliant women have been quietly written out of the story. Their discoveries were stolen, their names left off publications, their contributions erased by the very people they worked alongside. Some faced double barriers as both women and minorities, fighting prejudice on multiple fronts while making revolutionary breakthroughs.
Let’s be real here, the term for this systematic erasure even has a name now. Science historian Margaret Rossiter coined the phrase “the Matilda Effect” to acknowledge women’s systematic under-recognition. It’s hard to say for sure, but this pattern runs deeper than most people realize. The stories that follow aren’t just about forgotten footnotes. These are pioneers whose work literally changed the world.
Rosalind Franklin: The Woman Who Actually Discovered DNA’s Structure
The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 was made possible by Dr Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray diffraction work at King’s. Her famous Photograph 51 showed the helical structure clearly. Unknown to Franklin, Watson and Crick saw some of her unpublished data, including the beautiful “photo 51,” shown to Watson by Wilkins. This X-ray diffraction picture of a DNA molecule was Watson’s inspiration (the pattern was clearly a helix). Using Franklin’s photograph…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-02-16 11:54:00
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